True Warrior
Summary: Plunged into a world of deceit and bloodshed, Sakura Kinomoto lost her hold on everything normal the day she turned 16, the day she lost her parents and the day an old rival bid her farewell. "It's a small world Kinomoto, we'll see each other again." Were his parting words. Who knew eight years was all it would take for those words to come true?
Author's Note: Petersgirl21, petiteTRINH, MusetteFujiwara, KrisyStory, Moot: And so, finally, we get the story started.
Moot: Get a Fanfiction account! I'd read a story by Celestiana about Sakura being a federal agent and I wondered what it'd be like to write about an assassin/mercenary Sakura. There might be others out there, but I wanted to write something with a story, something with more than the sparkful romance b/w our two protagonists. Some of your answers will be answered in future chapters, but Sakura, or whoever she's working for, isn't stupid enough to leave a background to check for or a history to know about. There is no trace of her death, or birth, as it is for any well planned mercenary.
You should overthink things! Keep doing it.
And yes, Syaoran's in deep shit. Deep deep shit. Love life and otherwise.
Disclaimer: Everything you read here, apart from the familiar CCS characters, plot and cards, are mine.
vii.
05.05. Hours.
Syaoran looked around before slipping into the car and buckling himself in. Rear view mirror and side mirror adjusted, just a little before sunrise, the birds chirped outside, just like any other God awful day. The early morning was foggy, easy to drive through but a nuisance in any case.
He'd been home to bathe and change, but only for a second though. He wanted to be at the HQ.
A CD was already playing as he turned the ignition and accelerated.
"Here goes nothing," he muttered under his breath.
t. w
"You want me to, let me see if I heard you right, wipe out, the Company?"
Blink.
Breathe.
"Sakura, that's a lot more than the usual 'Water my plants after I'm gone' favour."
"I never said it'd be easy,"
"There are no words for how impossible this is going to be."
"I never said it'd be impossible, either,"
t. w
05. 19. Hours.
People were running helter-skelter around the HQ as Syaoran arrived, his laptop bag in hand. The familiar ding of the elevator was heard before over fifteen people climbed in. It wasn't really as quiet as Syaoran would've preferred it, but he kept his eyes closed till the third floor came.
He wished he could have spoken to Mei Ling before arriving at work. Something uneasy settled in his chest as he walked through the familiar corridor, wondering where everyone was.
His cell rang then.
"I'm at my office, Chief," Syaoran answered it.
"Meeting at the conference room," was all the man said before disconnecting. Syaoran sighed, placed his bag on his desk and walked out.
"Do you know what this is about?" Amagai questioned him.
"You were called too?" Syaoran asked, wondering what this could be about now. "Maybe it's something to do with the case,"
Amagai pursed his lips and said no more. Syaoran followed suit. The two of them entered the room and sat at the table without anymore talk. Mei Ling was nowhere in sight. Syaoran wondered.
"This is a level 8 and above meeting only," Trevor announced as he entered. "Level 8 and below, please take your leave."
Four agents, the second chief of command and the chief himself were present at the table. The door was shut next, after water had been served to everybody. Before Trevor spoke the room was stunned to silence in anticipation. What was going on?
"We've got a problem," he started. "Sakura Kinomoto is gone. Now, we've been reviewing all movements and Syaoran, it is said that you were the last one to have had access to her."
Syaoran nodded. He felt his stomach churn as he waited for the next question. Obviously, he would be suspected in the act.
"We reviewed the tapes and see that you handed her back to the holding cell by 23.47 hours," Trevor looked nervous as he said the next few words. "While that's all fine and dandy, we have no idea where she went, or how she managed it."
"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked.
"There are no signs of her having left her room in the tapes," Agent Rui Kawa said; his voice deep and assenting as he spoke. "I reviewed them myself with the guard and electronics expert. There were no entries or exits either, apart from agents alone."
Trevor's face turned stony. "This could be an inside job, men. We need to track everyone's movements from eleven last night to eleven in the morning, and when I say everyone, I mean everyone." He slammed his fists on the table. "I've already lost one agent in this, and now a culprit as well. Does anyone have any idea how the IAS will be implicated for this?"
Syaoran had known Trevor for six years now and not once had he seen him so furious, his eyes bulging and his face red. The man was over forty five but he sure as hell looked like he could create havoc, no matter what his age.
"Syaoran, I want you to return to her previous known address and look for anything we could use." Trevor told him. "Rui, you review those surveillance tapes once again. Scan it for anything the least bit suspicious. Amagai, I want you to question everyone who was present at HQ last night between these twelve hours, and I want to know everyone who saw Sakura Kinomoto, whether in her cell or otherwise, what time they saw her and why.
"Lily," he addressed the second chief of command. "I want you to go through our computers, our hard drives, our interrogation tapes and anything else that could have any relevance within these twelve hours.
"Tick, tock, agents. And keep this under the wraps. We will make a formal announcement only after the clock strikes eleven,"
Before Syaoran stood, Trevor called out to him.
"I'd like a word, Syaoran,"
Syaoran swallowed and sat back down, waiting for the others to disperse.
It would be so easy to blame him for losing Sakura.
t. w
"You were always a little bit of a larger than life species, you know that? Wipe out the Company,"
Silence.
"Now, I'm not too familiar with the wiping out process, but I'm guessing it involves taking out the head of this entire thing, which you know nothing about, and I know even lesser than you know.
"How many people have they been responsible for killing?"
"Thousands," her voice was quivering. "So many assassinations, so many bombs, so many innocents, there're too many to count."
"How many were you responsible for?"
Silence, once again.
"How many of you are there?"
"Tens, not more."
Grip. Drag. Sit.
"Sakura, do you have any idea what you're suggesting? Imagine if someone overheard us! These people will kill me, and they will kill my friends, my family!"
Silence.
"Why should I risk all of that just to do you one favour?"
Sigh.
"Let's say I could do it," Syaoran humoured her. "Let's say it isn't as impossible as it is. Where would I start?"
"With bait. You would start with bait."
t. w
05.45. Hours.
"Tell me something I don't know, Syaoran," Trevor spoke as he ran his fingers through his hair, clearly frustrated.
"She spoke about her family, her friends, before it all happened to her. She spoke about wanting out, about wanting to quit," Syaoran blinked. "You saw the tape, Chief."
"I did." Trevor walked to Syaoran. "Which is why I'm asking for something else, something I don't already know,"
Syaoran placed his hands behind his back. "I think you did everything you could, Chief, then and now. We will find her, you know we will,"
Trevor looked into Syaoran's eyes, his gaze piercing, unyielding, frightening. Syaoran could feel his insides screaming at him to tell him what he knew, what could possibly help, but knew better. It wouldn't just jeopardize whatever Sakura had in mind, but also Tomoyo and he couldn't do that to her.
To her.
To himself.
"Get busy," Trevor finished. Syaoran turned on his heel and left after that, without a glance back.
He had to work, fast.
t. w
"You want me to bait them? With what, exactly?"
"With exactly what they want."
Blink.
Breathe.
Nod.
t. w
06.00. Hours.
"Mei," Syaoran approached Mei Ling just as she left her office.
"What's going on?"
Syaoran stood for second without saying anything, and then kissed her.
"I'm sorry," he stopped to touch her face, her cheeks, her hair. "For these last few days, for how I've been. Forgive me?"
"Of course," Mei Ling pulled back to look at his face. "What's happening?"
"No time, Mei," he kissed her forehead once more. "The Chief will brief you all in about five hours. Be patient till then?"
Mei Ling nodded.
Syaoran kissed her one last time before pulling away. "I've got to get to work,"
Mei Ling let him go before kissing his cheek. "Do you want to do dinner tonight?"
Syaoran smiled, and nodded. "Of course,"
Mei Ling stood behind, watching her fiancé walk away from her after a long three days. How she wanted to hold him, be with him. Not wanting to let him go had become a sudden issue for the two of them. She had to be careful, or she could end up with her emotions everywhere.
Only after Syaoran was out of sight did Mei Ling get back to work.
t. w
11.18. Hours.
"Any word from Syaoran yet?" Trevor asked Amagai as they prepared to debrief all agents.
"Not yet, sir,"
"Get him on the cell for me,"
"Yes, sir,"
11.49. Hours.
"Sir, I think you need to listen to something," Amagai came over to Trevor as the chief in command left the conference room and all the hullaballoo contained in it after the debriefing was finished with. His own agents had so many things to contribute, so many questions to ask. The media would make mince meat out of them.
"What is it?"
"Sir," Amagai paused at a man. "This is Mashashi Morou, our holding cell guard for the night shift."
"Sir," the man saluted the chief. The chief merely nodded.
"What do you have to say?" he asked, cutting to the chase.
"Agent Amagai was asking me about how long Agent Syaoran had the terror suspect for interrogation. The first night, it was over forty minutes, and the second night, well; the sir had her in there for about an hour, if I'm not wrong."
Amagai looked at Trevor.
"Something wrong, sir?" Mashashi asked.
Amagai cursed under his breath.
"Fuck," was Trevor's response, immediate and callous. "Fuck. Fuck."
"Agents," Amagai went into the office and made the announcement into the microphone without any further delay. "Code red. I repeat, code red. All system shutdown. All agents are to report for ID confirmation and badge checks.
"I repeat, code red, agents."
"How long were the tapes of Syaoran's interrogation with the woman?" Trevor questioned Amagai.
"Twelve minutes, then five,"
"Fuck,"
Fuck was right.
t. w
06.05. Hours.
The drive was smooth and easy, the afternoon sun bright and warm. Rows of traffic lights later, Syaoran stopped before the first red signal he'd encountered in the car that he'd randomly picked at the petrol station they'd stopped at a few minutes ago.
Correction, they'd encountered.
The car was quiet, and apart from the rev of the engine, there wasn't really another sound but for quiet breaths. If it weren't for her presence itself, Syaoran would've believed he was completely alone in the stolen Hyundai.
"There's no turning back from here," Sakura said quietly. "You lose everything. I hope you realize that."
Syaoran merely looked into the rear view mirror to keep an eye on the traffic behind them. They would be out of Tokyo in less than half an hour.
Syaoran felt as if he'd lost his bars and cage. Had he been that unhappy? No, he hadn't. Mei Ling had kept him happy. His job had kept him happy. Life had been... okay. But now he learned that no, he hadn't really been happy. Sakura was right, he would lose everything: his job, his family, his friends, his fiancé, his credibility, his life. From now on, everything would be different and somehow, that thought wasn't as scary as he'd imagined it would be. The voice of reason questioned him, asking him why he was doing this, but there wasn't an answer really. He didn't know why. He just knew he had to. It was probably a stupid time to start listening to his own conscience, but he did it anyway.
His mother would be so disappointed.
For the first time, he learned how not to care.
Starting from here, let's make a promise
You and me, let's just be honest
We're gonna run, nothing can stop us
Even the night that falls all around us
- Not Gonna Get Us/T.A.T.U
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